Meet the Dogs

No question about it, investing is a dog-eat-dog world. Traders are constantly developing and revising strategies in order to make the most money in the stock market. Throughout time many strategies have come and gone, few sustaining any significant longevity.

However, over the past decades, Michael O’Higgins’ strategy coined “Dogs of the Dow” has built a reputation as a relatively easy and dependable long term investment strategy.To understand the Dogs of the Dow, first you need to familiarize yourself with the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Created in 1896 by Charles Dow, the “Dow” is an index that tracks the performance of the 30 largest NYSE and NASDAQ companies. Since its inception, the Dow Jones has become arguably the most popular index and is the most common metric for measuring the overall health of the U.S stock market.

Recognizing the how synonymous the Dow was with the performance of the broader market, O’Higgins sought out a strategy that would “beat the Dow.” In his mind, if you were beating the Dow then you were also beating the market, every investor’s ultimate goal.

After some experimentation, O’Higgins settled on a simple set of steps. At the end of each year, calculate the dividend yields of each of the 30 Dow Jones’ stocks. Select the 10 stocks with the highest dividend yields and invest equal amounts in each of them. Hold the stocks and collect their dividends until year end and then repeat the process. Simple enough, right?

So, if we do the calculations as of June 30, 2018, here is the Dow 30 ranked by dividend yield. The top 10 would be O’Higgins’ “Dogs”.

Dogs of the Dow (June 30th, 2018)

Stock Symbol Company Name Dividend Yield Closing Price Annualized Dividend
VZ Verizon 4.65% $50.75 $2.36
IBM IBM Corp 4.21% $149.24 $6.28
XOM Exxon Mobil 4.00% $82.01 $3.28
CVX Chevron Corp 3.68% $121.67 $4.48
PG Procter & Gamble 3.64% $78.73 $2.87
PFE Pfizer 3.64% $37.36 $1.36
KO Coca-Cola Co. 3.46% $45.11 $1.56
CSCO Cisco Systems 3.11% $42.40 $1.32
MRK Merck 3.07% $62.51 $1.92
JNJ Johnson & Johnson 2.86% $125.94 $3.60
WBA Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 2.71% $64.93 $1.76
MMM 3M 2.70% $201.60 $5.44
MCD McDonald’s 2.57% $157.41 $4.04
CAT Caterpillar Inc. 2.47% $139.42 $3.44
TRV Travelers Co. 2.46% $125.18 $3.08
WMT Wal-Mart Stores 2.37% $87.72 $2.08
INTC Intel Corp 2.31% $51.98 $1.20
DWDP DowDuPont Inc. 2.30% $66.14 $1.52
UTX United Technologies 2.15% $130.36 $2.80
JPM JP Morgan Chase 2.04% $109.89 $2.24
HD Home Depot 2.03% $202.63 $4.12
BA Boeing Co. 1.92% $355.33 $6.84
MSFT Microsoft 1.61% $104.40 $1.68
AAPL Apple Inc. 1.52% $191.88 $2.92
DIS The Walt Disney Company 1.50% $112.13 $1.68
UNH UnitedHealth Group 1.42% $252.93 $3.60
AXP American Express 1.40% $100.17 $1.40
GS Goldman Sachs 1.39% $229.63 $3.20
NKE Nike Inc. 1.04% $76.95 $0.80
V Visa 0.60% $140.13 $0.84

 

For clarification, a company’s dividend yield is the ratio of its dividend to share price. O’Higgins chose to select by dividend yield because he believed that Dow stocks set their dividend amounts based on the average worth of their company. This idea, paired with the idea that share price moves according to where a company stands in the business cycle, means that a high dividend to low share price ratio creates a perfect opportunity for investment. In other words, a high dividend yield communicates that a firm has high worth and a high potential for growth.

Of course, this model is based on several key assumptions, but over time his strategy has consistently outperformed the Dow. It has proved to be an accessible and reliable model, perfect for new investors and long term traders. If you’re looking to get started in the stock market but don’t know where to begin, consider the Dogs of the Dow strategy. After all, numbers don’t lie.

5 Stocks to Buy Now

If you wanna get your feet wet with the Dogs of the Dow strategy, use your Wall Street Survivor account to buy Verizon, IBM, Exxon, Chevron, and Procter & Gamble. Try it out for size and, when year end comes around, think about using this strategy to start building your real stock portfolio!

Investing can sometimes take on the feeling of betting and those who want some excitement in addition to making money have options that can satisfy both desires.

One way they can do this is to engage in spread betting which is a type of derivative investing that allows investors to place bets on where a stock, commodity or other specified asset’s price will go from its current price.

Spread bettors do not purchase the actual asset, and as such their being able to benefit from the movement of the asset is a much less expensive proposition than purchasing the asset.

Spread betting is all about speculation and trying to predict they rise or fall of an asset price. The spread bettor is given two prices; a purchase or bid price and a sell or ask price. The amount between the bid and ask price is called the spread. An investor can bet on the bid if they believe the price of the asset will increase and they can pick the ask price if they believe the asset price will fall. This simple bet is made within a period of time that is pre-determined.

In spread betting there is a broker who positions the betting but unlike typical stock or commodities purchasing the broker does not charge a fee for a buy and sell of the asset. Since no asset is purchased the broker will make his commissions within the spread.

Spread betting is very simple yet can also involve complicated strategies that take into account patterns of assets movements. Investors use these strategies to decide whether to go long, short or both on the same asset. To learn more about the elements of spread betting click here to have spread betting explained.

Spread betting also has a range of benefits for investors. Some of the top ones include:

Low Cost Entry

Because you are not purchasing the asset you are betting on, entry into spread betting is only a portion of what it would cost to do stock trading. You however can leverage a similar amount of stock and receive the same gains.

Access to Global Markets

Spread betting is typically done online by companies that provide spread betting platforms and tools. He best of these companies provide access to thousands of global markets where spread betting can be done throughout the day.

Margin Trading

Bettors only have to put down a margin deposit to open their positions for a spread bet. This allows for increased returns when they have a winning bet.

Trade Multiple Assets

With spread betting you can choose stocks, indices, bonds, currencies, and commodities including gold, silver and oil, as your underlying asset.

Risk Management Tools

The top spread betting platforms provide tools that help better to manage risk, lock in profits and limit potential losses.

Regulated

In the UK, Germany, France, and many other countries spread betting is federally regulated providing protections to spread bettors and their money.  

Tax Free in the UK

If you spread bet from the UK you are free from capital gains tax or stamp duty.

Spread betting is very popular throughout Europe and not legal in the US. In order to get involved with spread betting you need to understand how it work and be clear about the risks involved.

That is one of the leading questions anyone considering forex trading asks. The simple answer is yes you can, but the reality is that it depends.

The best way to enumerate this is to start with an example. George Soros, worth an estimated 8 billion US dollars, made his money through investing. He is known as the man who broke the bank of England because, in 1992, he took a short position against the pound and made a profit of 1 billion dollars when the UK withdrew from the ERM.

There are other examples to consider, such as Andrew Krieger and Stanley Druckenmiller. Clearly, there is money in forex exchange. However, there is a reason why when you Google people who became millionaires via forex trading only these few names come up.

The reason is that it takes more than luck or a casual knowledge of the forex exchange market to make it big. Instead, it takes time, commitment, and willingness to fail and learn from failure. George Soros, for instance, studied at the London School of Economics and followed that up by working in various banks. It then took him more than ten years after starting his first hedge fund to make that 1-billion-dollar profit. He took his time, learned what he needed to learn and eventually it paid off.

Therefore, wherever you are trading from, forex exchange the United States, India or forex trading Australia, the principals that govern success in the forex trading are similar. Here are three of them.

Start Small

The continuous piece of advice every experienced trader gives is that everyone ought to recognize that forex trading is not a shortcut to immediate wealth. While there are people who are lucky enough to make it big with their first trade, for 99% of traders, it takes time.

It does not matter how skilled you may be, always start small. The best place to start is with a demo account. Find a good broker, and there are many available such as Rakuten broker and open a demo account.

Practice until you feel you have learned enough then move on to live trading. Once you start live trading, do not immediately begin trading 300,000 dollars on a 10,000 dollars’ account. Chances are, you will probably lose 20% of your account in a matter of weeks.

Always start small and increase your leverage with time. That is the foundation of making it big in forex trading.

Commit Yourself to Learning More

Everyone is a total of what they know, and it is what you know about forex trading that will determine how successful you are. The thing about forex trading is that it is not constant, it changes every single day. The factors that affect the falling and rising of a particular currency are continually shifting.

As a result, it is necessary that you commit yourself to learning more, and to keeping up with the changing industry if you are to remain competitive. At the moment, traders who initially embraced cryptocurrencies and machine learning are raking in money merely because they noticed an oncoming change and were quick to adapt and learn.

The trick to forex trading success is always to be open to learning more. Never stop learning.

Do Your Research and Take Advantage of the Tools Available

In the current age, there are countless tools to help a trader. The trick is in identifying which device is right for you. It could be SSI, a tool that tells you the traders who are short vs. those who are long on a specific currency pair.

The tool could also be copy trading or social trading; a tool that allows you to learn from and copy more experienced traders.

In essence, the tools available are too many to list. Therefore, do adequate research, combine that with what you have learned and pick a tool you are convinced will make you a better trader.

Final Word

Remember also; your broker plays a vital role in your success as a trader. Rakuten Securities, for instance, or any other trusted broker who will partner with you to ensure the best possible environment for a successful trading career.

You would have heard about discipline. In fact, disciplined behavior must be something that you have previously encountered. But what about a disciplined trading mindset? Have you heard of it? It’s okay if you haven’t. We will make it clear for you! The market for foreign currency exchange is not as it’s painted by the trading platform developers and some scam brokers. They paint the market as if it doesn’t involve losses, but rather only generates gains. They paint it as if it is easy to be a trader and you wouldn’t need anything much. Of course, you don’t need anything much compared to other careers but still, there are certain unique demands for the foreign currency exchange market that are required. They paint a  picture-perfect market, but it is not true. Even the Forex market has a few flaws. There’s nothing perfect in this world. Everything would be flawed if you look deep enough into it. However, the picture-perfect imagination impacts traders heavily. They easily get effected by such marketing tricks. Read this article to get the clear and true picture of the market. What does that have to do with having a disciplined trading mindset? Well, there are a lot of things that you can do if you have the right mindset. You will find it below!

Identify the mistake

Making mistakes can be great, effective way to learn new things. In fact, all the senior traders bring positive change to their trading strategy by assessing their mistakes. As a full-time trader, you need to write down the details of each trade setup so that you can assess it during the weekend. This will help you to pinpoint the key problems with your strategy within a very short period of time. Once you know the problem, you will be able to work out how you can use the demo accounts to fix the issues.

Put the trust in yourself

There are many traders who easily lose faith in themselves. Why does it happen? Why is it common among newcomers? Unless a person trusts himself or herself he or she wouldn’t be able to continue their journey. This doesn’t apply only to Forex trading but also to everything else in life. Even to complete a degree or any other educational course, you should believe that you can. You should not do it just because someone asked you to. So, this is all about trading mindset and the connection it has with you having confidence in yourself. If you trust yourself you would listen to your trading instincts. On the other hand, if you don’t trust yourself you would always have doubts about your decisions. A trader should not exhibit this type of behaviors. So, you should discipline your trading mindset. How do you do that though? It is pretty simple! You have to believe in yourself. To be honest, most traders don’t trust themselves which is why the success rate is very low in trading. You are the main reason for your success, you should trust yourself to do it.

Focus on smaller changes

You don’t have to work monotonously. Even your trading journey doesn’t have monotonous. If you want to improve your trading experience and behaviors you should add a few changes at a time. You should focus on the smaller changes. Some traders prefer not to change but sometimes change can be positive. You should make your mindset to accept the changes that you make if not it would be impossible to gain profits. For example, finding a new trading method. Or finding a new strategy.

Think out of bounds

If you are in the foreign currency exchange market, you are not bound by any rules. You can create rules and break rules. But don’t break rules without having a valid reason to do so. You are on your own your trading journey, so why not try to think outside of the box? Most traders work according to the way that has been mentioned in whatever material they have read. But this might limit your success. So go beyond the bounds of convention, and the sky is the limit.

Everyone wants to lead their dream life. People wake up very early in the morning thinking about how to can secure their financial freedom. Due to the global economic crisis, finding the perfect job has become extremely hard. Even if you manage to have the right position in the top tier of a company, the chances are that you will become a victim of professional politics in the working environment. So what do you need to do to live your dream life? This is where the term Forex trading comes into action. If you can master the art of currency trading, you can easily use a high leverage trading account to make a huge profit from this market. But things are not so easy. You have to learn the details to find the best trades. In today’s article, we will highlight three important strategies you need to know as a trader.

Price action trading strategy

Price action trading strategy is extremely popular among the professional traders. It allows them to trade the key levels of the market with an excellent level of accuracy. Some of you might think about mastering the art of price action trading is nearly impossible, since you will have to memorize different candlestick pattern. But if you can understand the psychological reason behind the formations of such candlestick patterns you can easily improve your chances of winning trades. Those who are looking to make a quick profit from this market will have to face extensive losses even after using price action system. You need to trade the market in a stress-free environment and focus on the long-term trend. Try to do the multiple time frame analysis and wait for the confirmation signal to place your order. Never rely on your emotions as they will likely lead you to overtrade the market.

Chart pattern trading strategy

Chart pattern trading is often considered the most advanced form of trading strategy. In fact, this is one of the most effective ways to execute a long-term trade in your online trading account. During the event of the high impact news release, the market becomes extremely volatile and it becomes nearly impossible to find the best trades. But this doesn’t mean the professional traders are not taking advantage of the highly volatile market. They are simply using the different chart pattern to ride the long-term trend. Most of the time the price tends to break a major support and resistance level after the news is released. So there is no point in placing trade prior to the scheduled news event as it will increase the risk factors dramatically.

Simple trend line trading strategy

Though the trend line trading system is extremely simple the professional traders often consider it as the most effective way to make money. First of all, you need to identify the trend in the higher time frame. Those who try to ride the trend in the lower time frame are the ultimate losers. However, there are some scalpers making a huge profit by trading the minor trends. As a new trader, your prime focus should be on the daily time frame since it will give you an overall picture of the market. If possible try to use your price action and chart pattern trading know-how to find the best trades. Some of you might even use the Fibonacci retracement tools to find the strong levels of the market. When you do use the Fibonacci retracement tools, make sure you are using the correct time frame and key swings of the market.

So far you have read about the most important strategies in the retail trading industry. If you can master these three simple strategies you will be able to trade like the pro trader. So learn this three point system very carefully in order to execute the best trades in this dynamic market.

You may or may not have heard about Stellar Lumens already, it is a cryptocurrency that is causing a great deal of excitement among users and investors alike. This guide will take you through everything you need to know about the token as well as explain how to buy Stellar Lumens and where to use it. Find out all you need to know about the Stellar Lumens Foundation and all the great work they are doing.

A short intro to the XLM project

Stellar is the brainchild of Jed McCaleb, one of Ripple’s founders who has had tremendous success in the сrypto world. When McCaleb looked at the performance and strength of Ripple, he realized there was a real marketplace for tokens other than Bitcoin and decided to embark on a personal project.

To this end in 2014, before Stellar Lumens were officially launched, he had cooperated with Joyce Kim and created a website known as “Secret Bitcoin Project”. Then in July, with additional backing from Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, they launched an organization focusing on the development of a payment platform that would be accessible to anyone in the world. The foundation itself is a non-profit сrypto framework that aims to invest in other non-profit organizations. The project was launched with a total of 100 billion Lumens.

25% of the total Stellar tokens are earmarked for non-profit donations. 2% was paid back to Stripe in order to satisfy the money invested in the Stellar Foundation by Patrick Collison, and the rest of the tokens were made available on the crypto marketplace. Trading as XLM, sometimes the token is called Lumens and other-times Stellar. These names are interchangeable and used widely on the crypto forums.

Stellar Takes Off!

By 2015, the crypto token had already gained some serious traction in the marketplace. With a user base in excess of 3 million people in the space of 6 months and a market capitalization of $15 million dollars, Stellar was off to a flying start.

2015 continued with the same level of interest, and the Stellar token continued to gain momentum as the year drew on. By the end of the year, the token had grown considerably, and the foundation released a new algorithm to make the platform more efficient for users.

Partnering with IBM

One of the core principles of the Stellar Foundation is to help and promote financial inclusivity. Their foundation has worked with many third world projects that aim to keep people connected with the recent world technologies and have the same opportunities in the financial markets as their first world counterparts.

To this end, a lot of investment has been made in small economy locations, namely countries in the African continent as well as smaller economies in East Asia.

One such project is being conducted by Stellar in collaboration with the technology juggernaut IBM. This project aims to facilitate and enhance cross-border transactions between countries in the South Pacific. With IBM on board, it has opened up expansive trade connections and the likes of Deloitte Bank are already actively using the system.

With such esteemed companies happy to pair up and collaborate with the Stellar Foundation, the token has had a lot of interest among investors, primarily because investor confidence is high.

How Do You Get Your Hands on Stellar?

Stellar isn’t the easiest of cryptocurrencies to get your hands on, that is because currently there are a few exchanges or platforms that allow direct credit or debit card transactions in return for the Lumens token. One such exchange is CEX.IO that has recently added Stellar Lumens to their trading platform.

A short guide to buying XLM on CEX.IO

So, after you have made your way to CEX.IO, you will have a whole world of crypto open to you. The first thing you will need to do is find a wallet that supports XLM. However, the exchange will also offer you an online wallet to keep your Stellar tokens in.

Once you create an account with CEX.IO and verify your identity (which is a must-do), you can easily link your debit or credit card with which you are aiming to make purchases. The deposits can be made in both USD and EUR, so it’s up to you to decide which is a better fit for you. The process of buying is quite straightforward and almost effortless – it is completed in several clicks, literally. All you need is to go to the BUY/SELL section, select Stellar Lumens from a drop-down menu, enter the desired amount of tokens to be purchased and click BUY. This is it! You will see freshly bought Stellar Lumens in your CEX.IO account.

More seasoned crypto users can also utilize the trading functionality of the exchange, where custom orders can be placed and specific conditions to the trade can be predefined.

The fees for these options differ – they can range from 0% to 0.25% for trading and go as high as 7% for instantly buying.

Other ways to get Stellar Lumens

There are many other ways to get hold of Stellar. For example, you can exchange Bitcoin or Ethereum for it at platforms supporting altcoin trading. Some platforms like Binance do allow for PayPal transactions; however, you will need to purchase Bitcoin first through your PayPal account and then exchange that for the Lumens token, so it really depends on personal preference.

Once you have your Stellar Lumens, you will realize it has limitations as a user-based crypto token, there are not many marketplaces that openly transact on Lumens currently. This is set to change in the future, but as things stand now – it is primarily being used as an investment token.

The development of the Forex market has now reached a truly global scale. Thousands of people around the world are making deals, trying to increase their capital. With the growth in demand and the growing number of customers, trading strategies have emerged that help to more productively trade.

To date trading in the forex market, there are many different strategies that traders use depending on their needs and the free time that they allocate for trading. Each trader chooses for himself a more comfortable strategy.

Markets Cube, along with a large number of working tools and trading methods allow its customers to use a variety of trading strategies. Below we will consider those strategies that are the most popular among the company’s customers.

  1. Short-Term Trading Strategy (Day Trading)

Short-Term Trading Strategy or Day Trading is a strategy whereby transactions (buying and selling) occur within one trading day. This strategy can occur in any market, but most of them occur in the forex market and the stock market. Traders using this strategy, also they use a large number of levers to take advantage of small (short-term) price fluctuations in highly liquid stocks or currencies. Day traders perform two important functions on the market: they effectively manage markets through arbitration and they provide the bulk of liquidity in the markets. This strategy is different, it does not require a lot of time and serious knowledge. Because of this, it is very popular among beginners.

  1. Medium-Term Trading Strategy

The Medium-Term Trading Strategy implies the execution of transactions and the planning of positions take several days ahead, using various factors, such as fundamental analysis and technical indicators of the market. Compared with short-term strategy and long-term trading, medium-term trading has the lowest capital requirements. However, for this strategy, there are fewer opportunities for trade. The strategy includes viewing several time frames and using technical indicators such as moving averages and stochastic ones. In addition, support and resistance levels, trend lines, Fibonacci retracements and control points are also used. Candlesticks and charts are also actively used by traders in the medium-term strategy. It should be noted that to use this strategy, the trader needs a deeper knowledge of the specifics of the market than in the short-term strategy.

  1. Long-Term Trading Traders (Positional Trading)

Long-term Trading Strategy or Positional Trading is a strategy that involves the execution of transactions over a long period of time (from several months to several years). Using this strategy, the investor or trader looks at the asset in the long run. But, to use this strategy, you need to be an experienced trader and clearly understand the dynamics and specificity of the foreign exchange market. If you have the necessary knowledge and the right approach, a long-term strategy frees up a lot of personal time, because, in this case the trader is not an active participant in the market and there is no need to follow it constantly. Long-term trading makes it possible to use compounding. Compounding is a system in which investments grow at the expense of interest received both in principle and in accrued interest over a certain period of time.

The trading strategy is a very important factor of the productive trade. You only need to consider all the pros and cons of different strategies and choose the strategy that suits you best. And then – go for it.

We wish you successful selection and productive trade!

It has often been said that debt is one of the ugliest four letter words on the planet. Truth be told, the biggest empires have been built on debt-fueled financing. All big-ticket purchases require credit approval. These expense items include things like homes, college education, vehicles, exotic vacations, et al. Without loan approval, none of these things is possible for the typical US household. The problem is not so much debt; it’s one’s ability to meet these financial commitments.

There is a particularly uplifting story from a gentleman by the name of Mr. Jim Davies. He was in debt to the tune of $400,000 +, and he managed to repay it within two years. According to leading debt management website, DebtConsolidation.com, Jim Davies paid off $400,000 within 21 months. Many folks complain about debt burdens of $5,000, but for Jim Davies his debt burden amounted to 80 times that. For most middle income families, that is the equivalent of an entire mortgage that gets paid off within two years. But it’s the way Mr. Davies went about his debt repayment that is astounding. His is a story that has inspired many US households, and for good reason.

What Mr. Davies did was genius. He was determined to repay his debt as quickly as possible, and it began with a budget. Not just any budget – a strict budget. He also carefully considered his personal loan options. Since student loans were a big part of his overall debt burden, he tackled that with gusto. The game plan can work for anyone, since all of us are saddled with debt of one kind or another. Statistics indicate that 65% of Americans have a mortgage debt, 50% have credit card debt, 32% have automobile loan debt, 25% have student loan debt, and 21% have medical loan-related debt.

Collectively, it’s easy to see how good debt and bad debt gets lumped together into a mountain of repayments. For Jim Davies, the game plan was simple: get qualified as a specialist medical doctor and pay down the debt as quickly as possible. His advanced education was to take 14 years (school and training) with 5 years of undergrad studies, 5 years of medical school, and 4 years of residency.

So how did he get into such debt to begin with? The cost of tertiary education in the United States is extremely high. Besides student loan debt, he used credit cards to support him while he was studying. His debt/income ratio was 138%, and he owed $300,000 in student loans consider that the average interest rate on these types of loans was around 6.8%. The annual percentage rate on his credit card was hovering around 16%, and interest rates for his credit card repayments amounted to $1,300 per month. The monthly minimum payments amounted to $4,000, and at that rate it would take 2 decades to repay this debt.

So how did he do it in 21 months?

For starters, he had a decent credit score, and when he finished medical school, his base salary was $250,000 a year, which amounted to $175,000 per year after taxes. He was also married, and his wife was making $40,000 a year. Instead of paying rent while he was a student, he had a condo that was purchased for him for a price of $200,000. It had appreciated to $300,000 by the time he finished medical school. He sacrificed everything, except the bare necessities to repay his debt. He stopped making big purchases, and he bargain shopped everywhere he went. There were no vacations for a while, and he and his wife lived off her salary while they were aggressively paying off the debt.

He managed to find an online lender to help refinance the student loans at no extra charge, and he chose a no-penalty repayment loan with a variable interest rate which was lower than the prevailing interest rate. It worked in his favor. The story of Jim Davies could be the story of anyone with enough financial sense to attack debt on every level. The problem with debt is that many people continue living the same lifestyle even while they are heavily indebted. The only way to avoid excessive debt is to make lifestyle changes and sacrifices.

 

For a new investor Contracts for Differences (CFDs) are where it starts to get complex.

Sure, the start of an investment journey can seem overwhelming at first. But after the initial establishment of a trading account and the first couple of buys, the process gets easier.

Ultimately building investment expertise is a long road, and CFDs are one stage in it.

Contracts for Differences Defined

New buyers understand the ‘regular’ purchase of a stock today sees them take ownership of the stock the same day. Futures trading still features a buying and selling process, but has a different structure when it comes to ownership. Instead of ownership of the actual asset, a CFD sees a buyer acquire a tradable instrument that ‘mirrors’ the assets market behaviour.

When someone buys one of these tradable instruments they take what is known as a ‘position’.

This position is obtained by forming a contract with a broker, with an agreement they will ‘reverse’ the process at a certain date. For example, a broker agrees to sell a buyer 10 stocks at the market price on May 1, and the buyer agrees to resell them to the seller at market value on June 1.

If the price has increased in value between May 1 and June 1, the broker agrees to pay the buyer the difference. If the price has decreased during the same period, the buyer will pay the broker the difference. Like any investment there are risks involved in CFDs but when done successfully it can be a solid avenue

Because the buyer agrees to buy a tradable instrument (a mirror) rather than the asset itself (the stock), it is a good way to gain exposure to international stocks more easily, and reduce regular commission fees. Put simply, CFDs can be a simple and cost-effective way of investing for those who want to gain market exposure, without having to navigate all the bother that can come with buying a stock‚ monitoring it daily‚ needing to anticipate market movements around it‚ and then being ready to sell it when a good time arrives.

How Do Investors Use CFDs Successfully

At its heart, a good investment strategy will always be at its best with diversification.

Diversification may mean you miss out on some gains occasionally – if a stock you bought for $1000 in skyrockets you may wish in hindsight you put $10‚000 in it! – but ultimately it’s really a form of ‘investor’s insurance’. In event something does go wrong in one sector a diversified list of assets will minimise your fall out‚ and ‘spread the loss’ over your portfolio. This is always preferable to being invested in just one stock or sector‚ and being always at risk a market crash could totally ruin your portfolio.

Some investments will deliver (essentially) risk-free returns, but they will be small. Other investments can deliver great returns but their risk is high. There is no one magic stock of form of investment that will the perfect combination of low-risk and high reward each and every time.

When pursued with this understanding in mind, investors can use CFDs to gain access to greater leverage than they could by buying regular stocks. They can also seek to invest in a wide array of investment classes, such as indexes, currencies, treasury, sector, and commodity CFDs.

Diversification is at the heart of all good investing, and CFDs can be a great way to achieve this.

What Are the Common Pitfalls of CFDs

The risks surrounding CFDs are a lot like the risks of a regular driver using a race car.

With this right mindset and experience, CFDs can be a great vehicle to drive you towards your investment goals. But speed can be dangerous, especially when you can’t fully see the road ahead.

Even within relatively stable sectors where CFDs can be obtained, there is still the risk that there could be the outbreak of a scandal, or some major crisis, that sees a stock’s price crater. This can happen to blue chip stocks too, like Volkswagen in 2015, or Facebook with the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. Stock prices tumbled for both due to public relations disasters.

At its core this is the chief risk of CFDs. That an investor may be able to reasonably shoulder a small loss in stock price value, but a colossal loss could be really damaging. The risk of these events occurring is arguably only getting big, as the disruption era changes the face of business, and means the old stability certain sectors once enjoy are replaced by permanent volatility.

Conclusion

CFDs can come with a higher risk than buying a regular set of stocks, the rewards can be greater. Especially when pursued with research and experience in-hand. These two qualities grow the odds any CFD an investor pursues will prove beneficial in the end.

Overtime, a seasoned investor comes to understand its wise their portfolio has some element of higher risk to it. Built upon a foundation of other low-risk investments, exposure to higher risk via CFD can deliver really strong returns. Provided the pitfalls of doing so can be navigated, incorporating regular acquisitions of CFDs in your investment strategy can prove beneficial.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as constituting professional advice.

Due to a volatile economy, tighter financing norms and traditional lenders’ fear of an increase in their non-performing asset ratio, many small businesses in Singapore and across the world are currently struggling to get financing to establish a solid cash flow or expand.

However, by doing certain things right, you can still improve your chances of loan approvals.

Things That Will Accelerate and Increase Chances of Loan Approvals

  1. Maintain operational transparency and records: Maintaining documentation for all valid transactions is extremely necessary, not just from a taxation perspective, but also if you’re planning to apply for a business loan. Your accounts, tax documents, receipts, and invoices should be up to date, always. If you’re too busy to maintain your book or track all the daily financial transactions and deals, put a professional accountant in charge.
  2. Build up a credit history: If you own a business which has not even completed a year, you may find it difficult to get a loan from a traditional lending institution. If your business has been in operation for a few years, and you have taken loans for the purpose of building a solid credit history for your business, remember that settling the outstanding balance on time is important. Most lenders will glean all credit records and financial transactions completed over the last few years. As a new business, if you don’t have a decent score, chances of rejection could increase significantly.
  3. Know which collateral to put up: Most traditional lenders will require a collateral in order to sanction a loan. The quantum of the loan will usually depend on the value of the collateral. Identify the collateral that you want to pledge. Is it real estate, a company vehicle, or some expensive equipment? Also, try to take a loan lower than the credit limit granted to you.
  4. Submit a plan which outlines how you intend to pay back the monthly dues: Most banks would look at a proven cash flow before they consider your application, especially if your business has been in operation for a few years. Create a detailed plan to demonstrate how you plan to pay back your loan dues. Consult a financial expert if you’re unsure about how to proceed.
  5. Provide your lender the necessary details: Most lenders will ask you to justify the loan amount that you have asked for. Don’t withhold critical details about your business operations or plans. Provide a solid reason to strengthen your application and document it clearly to make it easier for the lender to assess the application.
  6. Look for the right lender and loan product: Comparing your options carefully will help you find a willing lender and a product that matches your plans. Applying for a business loan when all you need is a cash advance or a credit line, may slow down your expansion plans or weaken your business propositions. Compare between different products and lenders to identify the most suitable option. Knowing what you really need will also help you comply with the requirements better because you can make the right preliminary arrangements.

What Are Your Options Apart From a Business Loan?

  1. Personal loan: If you’re a director, proprietor or a business partner, you may be able to use your credit history to secure a personal loan that can be utilised for the business. However, make sure that it is a short-term loan because if you fail to pay back the dues, your personal and business credibility will suffer.
  2. SPRING Singapore Micro Loan Programme: Apply for this loan if your loan amount doesn’t exceed S$100,000. Your registered company should have at least 30% of local ownership and a turnover below S$1 million.

Obtaining a loan is just the beginning of a much more complicated journey. Channeling your funds towards the funding of your business operations and growth is more important and will take a lot of planning.

 

You might be considering a roof repair for a number of reasons. Perhaps you have been planning to replace your roof with a new one for a while now, and are prepared for the cost. You may have to move more quickly if you suddenly discover a leak that could lead to further damage if it is not addressed. Another reason might be storm damage that has ripped part of your roof away.

It really doesn’t matter why you need your roof repaired. The fact is that you do, and it is looking to be an expensive proposition. According to homeadvisor.com, the national average for installing a new roof is over $7,000. This is typically not the kind of cash that we have laying around just waiting to be used in a home repair.

The problem is that roof repairs need to be addressed fairly quickly. Failure to take care of your roofing problem in a timely manner will lead to other problems that will end up costing you a lot more to resolve. If you do not have the cash reserves, you will need to finance the repairs. Here are some ways that you can do that.

Savings

Using your savings is the best way to finance a roof repair. If you suspect that you will need a new roof in the next several years, you should start putting away $100 a month toward the eventual cost of your replacement or repairs. You will soon get used to having a little less free cash every month but will be rewarded when the time comes for your repairs by being able to pay in cash without any of the hassles or fees associated with other financing options.

Credit Card

If you do not have the cash on hand to repair your roof, you may be able to use a credit card. Try opening a new account with a card that offers a promotional rate of 0%. Put your roof repair bill on that card, and then don’t use it for anything else until the roof repair is fully paid. By breaking your total cost into twelve monthly payments, you can avoid paying any interest as you essentially finance yourself.

The risk is in not paying the bill off in the first 12 months and then getting hit with the interest payments. Careful budgeting should allow you to avoid this pitfall.

Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)

A home equity line of credit is another way to finance your roof repair. When applying to a bank for a home equity line of credit, they will take into consideration the amount of equity that you have in your home. Then an amount of the line of credit is determined, and you borrow against it as you need it. This means you can control exactly how much you are borrowing, as opposed to a loan where you are getting the full value up front.

The flexibility offered by an HELOC may be what you need to make the roof repairs that you need. The best place to start is with your current mortgage holder, who can advise you on their policies regarding HELOCs. If you have sufficient equity in your home to cover your roof repairs, this might be the way to go.

Personal Loans

If you do not have sufficient equity in your home to apply for a line of credit, a personal loan may be the answer for you. Another benefit of a personal loan is that the application process can often take much less time than an HELOC, and in some cases, your roof repair needs to be done very quickly.

Many financial institutions offer personal loans tailored to home improvement. You can obtain roofing loans through these companies based on your own credit history and FICO credit score. In addition to being able to obtain your financing quickly if needed, other benefits are that there are no prepayment penalties with personal loans and you will be paying a fixed amount each month, which makes your budgeting simpler.

Government Grants

There are a number of different government programs designed to assist low-income families according to homeadvancement.com. Depending on the condition of your roof, these programs can help pay for part or all of your roof repair or replacement cost.

The Weatherization Assistance Program is run by the U.S. Department of Energy. It is primarily concerned with helping low-income families maintain a safe and healthy living environment while reducing heating and cooling costs. The Department of Agriculture runs a similar program called the Section 504 Home Repair Program which offers grants for improvements to low-income families living in single-family houses.

There are other programs available, and your local roofing professional may be able to give you more information. These programs all have income restrictions but can be a major help if your finances are not up to paying for a roof repair.

FHA Title I Loans

FHA Title I loans are fixed-rate loans that are backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The federal government does not actually make the loan, but insures loan providers against default and encourages those providers to make loans available to homeowners with little or no equity in their home.

There are restrictions governing who can apply for a Title I loan. You must have lived in the house for 90 days and you must either own it or have a long-term lease on the property. The proceeds of the loan must be used for the specific home improvements that were indicated at the time you applied for the loan. There are no minimum credit scores and you can receive a loan even though you have no equity in the home.

Conclusion

These are some of the ways you can finance a roof repair. When you have roof problems, you don’t want to wait long before addressing them. Using one of these resources, you should be able to get your roof repaired and keep your home dry and protected.

 

If you are using the HTMW stock game for the first time, or if you’re a veteran looking for some tips, here are the Top 5 Best Practices for your late Spring stock game!

Why More Teachers Start Their Games In The Spring

The school year is entering its final stretch, and your students know it! As the snow melts away and flowers start coming out, your students’ eyes have probably been lingering out the window (or on the clock) – making this an exceptionally difficult time to keep them engaged. This is why the Spring is the most popular time to run a classroom stock game!

We at HTMW always find that longer stock games work better (and teachers agree: semester-long and year-long classroom stock games are on the rise!), but we always see a huge surge of new classes created in the second half of the Spring semester. Even if teaching about investing and the stock market is not at the top of your class agenda, mixing up the volatility of the markets, researching real companies and the economy, and good, old-fashioned class competition makes the perfect recipe for engaged students, and a Spring full of learning!

#5: Use Assignments

On HTMW, an Assignment is a list of task you can give your students to complete. This is what makes our stock game unique – Assignments reinforce the learning process while making the game easier to pick up and master.

Assignments include:

  • Watching tutorial videos, showing the students what it means to manage a portfolio and make their first trades
  • Reading educational articles, like “What is the NYSE?” or “How to use a Spending Plan”
  • Taking automatically-graded pop quizzes, embedded with each article
  • Making trades to start building their portfolio

Once you already have a spring stock game set up, it takes less than a minute to add an awesome Assignment that your students will love. If you haven’t used assignments before, click here to see how!

 

#4: Be Sneaky With Learning!

Students have been in school since last September, and you probably have some students that already seem tired of lectures and projects, but this is their time to shine! There is so much happening in the world that impacts the stock market, which is why the stock game is such a versatile tool for learning.

On HTMW, we have a special tool called “Trade Notes”. This means that you can require your students to make a short, 1-2 sentence note with every trade as they are building their portfolio. This is a great way to reinforce class concepts, without your students even realizing they are learning!

Kick off your class by talking about a current event in the news, and how it relates to your class topics. This works just as well for History classes as it does Personal Finance – but it plants the seed for your students as they start to trade. Next, ask students to make at least 1 trade each day relating to that topic – and write a brief note about how it affected their decision.

#3: Let Your Game Run Long

Your class might end in a month, but your stock game doesn’t have to! In fact, HTMW has a built-in “Forums” feature, where students can post messages for other students to see and reply to. You can use the Assignments feature to even set up a Summer activity for students, and use the Forum to let them continue discussing the markets even after classes end!

#4: Give Prizes

 

A little incentive can go a long way! If you want your students to remember what they learned in the stock game long after it ended, it can be as simple as handing out certificates to the winners or participants. We even have a handy template you can use!

Click here to download a winner’s certificate!
Alternatively, Click Here to download a participation certificate for everyone in your class!

 

#5: Start Now

This might sound obvious, but your students can’t benefit from the HowTheMarketWorks Stock Game if you haven’t set up your class! There is a reason why we were voted the #1 stock game – we make it easy!

So if you haven’t already, take 2 minutes to set up your absolutely FREE spring stock game!

Click here to register your class

 

Warren Buffet, also known as the Oracle of Omaha is a legendary investor who dishes out sage wisdom for investment success on Wall Street. Warren Buffet’s annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway has become an annual letter to the world.  A simple online search of “Warren Buffet’s investment advice will yield tons of results providing different kinds of advice for new, intermediate, and experienced investors.

In some instances, too much information doesn’t do much good because the information overload could lead to inaction as people remain stuck in decision-making mode. Below are probably the three most important lessons that investors can learn from Warren Buffet’s long and illustrious investment career.

1.    There’s more to stocks than tickers, charts, and patterns

Many new Wall Street investors find it somewhat hard to know the difference between trading and investing. An investor has a long-term view in mind and they are not often concerned about short-term fluctuations in stock prices. To be a successful investor, you’ll need to know how to conduct fundamental analysis and trust the outcome of your analysis enough to stay put even when other traders are running around like headless chicken.

More importantly, you need to understand that buying stocks means that you are buying part of a business. You should be more concerned about buying a great business at fair prices than at buying a mediocre stock at a great price.  In Buffet’s words, “I view the stocks that Berkshire owns as interests in businesses, not as ticker symbols to be bought or sold based on their ‘chart’ patterns, the ‘target’ prices of analysts or the opinions of media pundits,”

2.    Differentiate between price and value

Too many people have been indoctrinated with the “buy low sell high” investment wisdom to the extent that they only think about price when making investment decisions. Granted, buying something when it is selling at cheap price and selling at a higher price in the future sounds profitable. However, buying a stock because it is cheap today doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get to sell it at a higher price tomorrow.

Instead of thinking about investments in terms of price, Buffet encourages investors to think in terms of value. To determine if a stock is valuable, Buffet suggests looking at the sustainable impact of its underlying business. In Buffet’s words, “the key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the durability of that advantage.”

3.    There’s opportunity in both bull and bear markets

Wall Street follows an inevitable bear-bull cycle of famine and feasting. Anyone can pick a winner in a bull market, all you need to do is to buy a stock and wait, the bullish momentum will cause demand to outpace the supply and the price of your stock will increase. However, picking out winners in a declining market is much harder and many people eventually lose all the gains they had accumulated from the previous bull cycle.

For the sophisticated investor, you can find ways to make money when the market is trading up, down or sideways. If you take Buffet’s advice to “be greedy when others are fearful” a bear market might offer an incredible opportunity to buy the stocks of great companies at a discount. In Buffet’s words, “the best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble. … We want to buy them when they’re on the operating table.”

Disclaimer: All trading involves risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose.

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3 of 3) How are most mutual funds traded?

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First things first: Here’s what you need to know before getting Bitcoin

All cryptocurrency fans should ask themselves: How to buy Bitcoin?

Like some other virtual money forms, Bitcoin has a few properties that you have to think about before actually making up your mind whether to get it or not.

If you are new in the Bitcoin world, you should realize that the trading of cash is not quite the same as how it is typically done in banks. So you might see why it’s important now to keep in mind the pros and cons before making a transaction. Since you are trading cash for Bitcoins, you have to deal with this investment as any other.

You need to secure your Bitcoin wallet

Like any other wallet with cash, you should make sure that your Bitcoin wallet is secure and safe. Wallet alternatives are many, yet you should find one with an important feature, the one with security. So make sure that you get a password, which helps you in getting your wallet private and safe. Be that as it may, if you forget your password, nobody can help you. If Bitcoin is utilized effectively, you shouldn’t encounter any problems. This is an essential thing for your wallet.

What’s the cost of Bitcoin?

The cost of Bitcoin can change over time, because of numerous reasons. Like different monetary forms, the laws of the free market activity decide the cost you pay for Bitcoin. Given the fact that clients appear from nowhere day by day, it’s understandable that the cost will keep on increasing.

This is an irreversible payment

When you have completed a transaction with Bitcoins, you should already know that there is no individual, government or bank ready to give the money back to you if you change your mind. Once is done, is done. You have to ensure that each transaction you do with Bitcoin is with someone you trust, in light of the fact that this person is the only one who can give the money back to you. So be careful with whom you’re making business.

Transactions with Bitcoin aren’t kept a secret

All Bitcoin transactions are recorded, since the system will have the data there, with the respect to every transaction ever made with Bitcoin. Anybody can find the transaction’s data and connect it to a person after some time, i.e people will know that is was you who bought that something. You should know how to take control with the respect to Bitcoins in your general area.

No one there to ruin your transactions

For every transaction, you’ll get an affirmation score to tell you if the potential outcomes of the transaction are being switched. The payment procedure with Bitcoin is a faster one and is also worldwide, and since isn’t possessed by any organization or government, there are no outsiders attempting to exploit or ruin it.

Bitcoin Transactions

There are numerous alternatives to trade cash for Bitcoins. Because of the absurdity of banks, the cost of trade can change from time to time. Dealers will dependably aim to purchase at a low cost and offer at a high cost. Try to do trusted deals to maintain a strategic distance from people who want to get your money by tricking you.

There are so many different ways for a person to build wealth over time. Finding the right investments is a key part of achieving your financial goals. In order to find the right investments, you will have to spend a lot of time researching your options. If you are looking for an investment that can provide you with a steady stream of income, then trading in the Forex market is a great option. This type of trading deals in currencies from all around the world. While you will not get rich overnight with this type of trading, there is an opportunity to make a lot of money over time. An essential part of having success as a trader in this market is by working with the top forex brokers. Read below to find out some helpful tips on how to find the right Forex broker.

  1. The Spread Amount Being Offered

The first thing you need to find out from a potential Forex broker is what their spread amount is. This amount relates to the amount of times you can buy or sell a particular currency in a designated amount of time. Since Forex is not traded through a central exchange, the spread amount varies from broker to broker. The only way to figure out what type of spread works the best for your Forex trading strategy is by doing a great deal of research. Most experienced traders prefer to deal with a broker that has a fixed spread. By doing this, you can avoid surprises along the way in your Forex trading journey.

  1. The Amount of Security Offered

Before using a particular broker, you will also need to find out about the level of security they have in place. Often times, the Forex trades you make will be done online. This means that there is always a risk of hacks occurring. Taking the time to contact the various regulatory agencies that are over the Forex trading market, you can find out more about a particular broker. If the broker in question has been reported a number of times for lax security, you need to avoid using them at all costs. Failing to do a great deal of research may lead to you losing a lot of money in the long run.

  1. What Are Their Transaction Costs?

Finding out what a broker will charge per trade transaction is also important. Some brokers will charge you a flat rate per month for a pre-designated amount of trades. Calling around to the various brokers in your area is the only way to figure out which one of them can offer the best deal on transaction fees. Most of the brokers you contact will be able to give you this type of information over the phone. Once you have this information, you should have no problem narrowing down the selection of brokers at your disposal.

  1. The Type of Trading Platform Being Used

You will also need to find out more about the trading platform a particular broker uses. There are tons of different Forex trading platforms out there and some are far better than others. Since most of your trades will be taking place online, you need to make sure the platform a particular broker is using is secure and easy to use. Setting up a demo on a few trading platforms will give you a firsthand feel for what each of them can offer. With this information, you can make an informed decision regarding which broker is the right fit.

  1. The Level of Customer Service Offered

Finding out about the reputation a broker has is also important. You need to make sure that the broker in question is known for providing a high level of customer service.

While choosing the right Forex broker will not be easy, it is well worth the effort you invest.